Christmas in the Void
by MetaKnightRoxMySox
Summary: Even though the end is fast approaching, the villains of Castle Bleck decide to take some time off to celebrate Christmas. But not everyone is feeling the joy of the season. Count Bleck feels depressed and lonely. Can his beloved minions cheer him up?
1. Chapter 1

Christmas in the Void

1

Mimi, Mr. L, O'Chunks, and Nastasia were crowded around the circular dinner table located in the kitchen, having a lively dinner chat. Mr. L and Nastasia were debating the merits of different brands of vacuum cleaners, while Mimi was blabbering on about a boy she had a crush on, with O'Chunks not really listening at all as he daydreamed about a certain someone. Count Bleck had sequestered himself away in his study to supposedly do work, while Dimentio was out on a reconnaissance mission of some sort.

As the topics changed, as dinner conversation tended to do, they breached the subject of taking a break of some sort. "I'm tired of getting beaten up by that ugly old plumber!" Mimi complained. Mr. L snorted derisively.

O'Chunks said, "S'not like yeh did aneh better." L rolled his eyes in response as Mimi went on. "I think we should get a break! I haven't had any time to go shopping!"

Mr. L nodded. "I'd like to be able to relax with some video games for once."

"En I'd like teh hev time fer sem sleep. I ent properly recovered from teh desert dere."

Nastasia stood, bringing her plate to the sink. "The Count pushes you so hard because he knows you can do better. There's no time for breaks with the heroes coming this way, k?"

Mr. L groaned, "Aw, come on Nastasia. I think we deserve it. It's almost Christmas time!"

Mimi blinked. "…What's Christmas?" Every one turned to stare at her. "What?" the green girl said, her eyes bugging out a little at the stares.

O'Chunks looked at her a little sympathetically. "Yeh never celebrated Christmas befer?"

"No? What is it?" she responded.

"Well…" Mr. L started. "Christmas is a holiday where you celebrate the people around you and give each other presents."

Mimi perked up. "Presents? Like, totally free stuff?"

"Yes, but-"

Mimi cut L off with an excited squeal. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! This is the best holiday ever!"

"Lass, it ent all aboot teh gifts yeh know," O'Chunks tried to explain further.

"I don't care! What's better than presents?!" Mimi practically shouted.

"Eh…Plenteh o things…" O'Chunks said.

"Well it doesn't matter." Nastasia interjected. "We simply don't have the time for Christmas." There was silence for a moment before Mimi said "What?!" so loud that it hurt everyone's ears. Nastasia looked stern. "We've got too much to do. The heroes already have five Pure Hearts and we've barely slowed them down."

"But-but-but…" Mimi said, looking incredibly dejected.

"C'mon Nassy, yeh kent go en crush teh lass's dreams like dat," O'Chunks said, not wanting to see the poor child cry.

"Yeah, come on. It'll be fun!" Mr. L said with a smile.

Nastasia shook her head. "There's just no time."

Mimi sniffled a little, saying ""I'm gonna ask Count Bleck if we can have Christmas!" before suddenly darting off down the hallway.

"Don't bother… the Count…" Nastasia tried to call after her. Mr. L and O'Chunks followed, hoping that they'd be allowed to celebrate the cheerful holiday. Nastasia sighed and followed behind.

* * *

Count Bleck fumbled the quill he was holding when the door to his study burst open with a loud bang. Scowling, he turned to see Mimi in the doorway, with O'Chunks, Nastasia, and Mr. L standing expectantly a little ways behind her. "Yes? May Count Bleck help you?" he asked.

"Um…" Mimi started, biting her lip a little. "Can we have Christmas."

Count Bleck looked startled at the question, and the glow of his eyes dimmed a little. "Christmas… Why? You want to celebrate at a time like this?"

"Yeah…" Mr. L said hesitantly. "I'd be a nice break."

"En I think we ced all use a liddle cheer." O'Chunks said, rubbing the back of his head.

Count Bleck looked at them for a moment, frowning severely. Mimi gave him her best puppy-dog eyes, and the other two followed suit with imploring looks. Finally, the Count sighed and turned away. "You may celebrate Christmas," he said.

"Yes!" Mr. L fist pumped. "Time to break out some decorations!"

"Decorations?" Mimi asked, following the two men as they left to go start celebrating right away. "We get to make the castle look pretty?"

The Count didn't turn back until their voices had faded away. He walked out of his study and gestured for Nastasia to follow him. She did, an objection plain to see on her face, but he held up a hand to keep her silence until he was ready to speak. "Let them have their fun, Nastasia."

"But Blu-Count, we don't have time for such distractions!" Nastasia said, stumbling over her tongue and worriedly looking at her schedule.

Count Bleck shook his head. "This is a very difficult time of year for me…You know why... Just…," he paused, and sighed. "Let them have their fun."

Nastasia looked like she wanted to argue, but refrained from doing so when she noticed just how…deflated her boss looked. His shoulders slumped, and his eyes barely gave off any light. A deep-seated and long-held pain was resurfacing, and she wouldn't hurt him further by throwing salt on the wounds. She nodded, following along beside him in silence until he reached his bedroom. Then, she gave him a short bow and left him alone, turning innumerable problems over in her mind and hoping that everything would turn out ok in the end.

* * *

**A/N: This story might not be as happy as you wish, but you can't know happiness without sadness. I'm experimenting with a new formatting style. Instead of my usual huge paragraphs, I'm trying to separate the dialogue more so that it's (hopefully) easier to follow. Enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

2

The four of them stood in the snow, looking out over the sparkling expanse of the frozen lake. Mr. L was bundled up in a thick black coat with a fluffy green scarf and earmuffs, O'Chunks was wearing a fuzzy sweater that gave him the appearance of a large, angry bear, Nastasia had donned a simple white coat alongside a bubblegum pink hat and a pair of pink gloves to match her hair, and Mimi had dressed herself in an outfit that made her look not unlike a gingerbread house.

"Got the skates, L?" Mimi asked, her eyes twinkling with delight at the winter scenery. Snow was still falling, covering the trees, the ground, and them.

"Yep," Mr. L replied, holding up a black sports bag. He set it on the ground and unzipped it, pulling out a pair of ice skates for everyone. Everyone sat down and quickly replaced their shoes with the sleek, brand new skates. Nastasia had gone out and bought them, making sure to get the correct sizes.

When they tried to stand up, they almost immediately fell over from the change in balance. "Say, does enyone know how teh stand in dese things?" O'Chunks asked, brushing snow from his sweater.

"Does anyone know how to ice skate in the first place?" Mr. L queried. Everyone shook their heads.

"Well, this is certainly interesting," a lilting voice said from behind. The four turned and saw Dimentio floating there, bundled up tightly in a black winter coat and matching purple scarf. He cocked his head a little, looking at them with his usual smile.

"Eh, yer back from whatever yeh were doing?" O'Chunks inquired, not expecting the jester to have returned from his mission so soon.

"Yes, I've just returned, if that's what you asked with that hideous accent of yours. Though it took some days, I got what I needed." Dimentio replied.

"And just what would that be?" Mr. L said, a little suspicious of the jester's rather happy tone.

Dimentio just waggled a finger. "That's for me to know, and you to not." He floated closer and allowed his feet to sink into the snow. "Now what are we doing here? Are those ice skates I spy?"

"Yup!" Mimi replied cheerily. "The Count said we could celebrate Christmas! I've never had a Christmas before!" She smiled, almost bursting with happiness.

"Really?" Dimentio responded to the news with a smile more honest than his previous one. "Well, you're in for a treat as delightful as having a swarm of puppies lick you to death. If I heard correctly, none of you know how to skate?"

"I guess not," Mr. L answered, rubbing his chin. "Should of thought of that, huh?"

"You are fortunate that I happen to be quite masterful in the art of ice skating." Dimentio said. "Perhaps I can show you a thing or two."

Mr. L snorted and Mimi looked incredulous. "You know how to skate?" she asked. "When did you learn how to do that?"

Dimentio gave a wily smirk, turning away a little. "What better way to pass the cold winter months? Now, allow me to demonstrate." With a snap of his fingers, his pointy black shoes were replaced with a pair of skates that looked well-loved. With a gleeful leap, he bounded out onto the ice and started gracefully skating around. He did a few rapid laps around the lake, carving figures and doing tricks and clearly having genuine fun, before returning back to his fellows.

"You're really good at that," Nastasia commented.

"Why thank you, my dear," the jester returned. "Why don't you all start by standing up?"

After many, many attempts at finding their balance on the razor thin edges of the skates, they eventually managed to stand for longer than a few seconds. O'Chunks cautiously tested out his weight, making sure the ice wouldn't break under his bulk. Mr. L and Mimi hung back a little.

"What's wrong? Is the Fearless Thunder afraid of a few bumps and bruises?" Dimentio taunted.

Mr. L frowned and stepped out onto the ice without hesitation. He flailed around a lot before recovering and gradually slowing to a stop. "Now what?" he called.

"Figure it out," Dimentio said with a laugh, purposefully leaving the mechanic stranded several feet from solid ground. Mr. L groaned and looked a little afraid, unsure if someone would come rescue him if he needed rescue.

O'Chunks had already managed to fall flat on his face. Mimi half-skated, half-flailed her way over to him and breathlessly said, "Golly, this sure is fun!"

O'Chunks groaned. "Sure, lass…" With effort, he got up and attempted to move forward again, resulting in a fall onto his back.

Dimentio came out onto the lake and skated circles around them, darting in between the three of them effortlessly. "You're as hopeless as an astronaut adrift in the void of space. Pay attention to your balance and the distribution of your weight, and you should be able to feel which ways your body needs to move. Nobody taught me to skate after all, so I'll let you figure it out the same way I did."

With that, he left them to earn their bruises and returned back to the shore, where Nastasia was sitting demurely on a rock. Dimentio slowly skated backwards along the shoreline. "Come now Nastasia. You don't wish to have any fun?" he asked her.

Nastasia shook her head. "I don't think this is for me."

Dimentio smiled and changed direction, still going backwards. "How do you know if you haven't tried? Falling isn't so bad."

The self-appointed secretary looked a little sad. "I don't know how you guys can even think about having fun at a time like this. The heroes are-"

She was cut off by Dimentio, who had teleported in front of her and held up a finger to her lips. "Don't worry about anything now. Why don't you try to relax?"

At that, she looked even more disheartened. "How can I? Count Bleck is depressed, the end of the world is approaching, there's so much to do…"

Dimentio wondered just why the Count was depressed when he was usually so stoic, but stored that tidbit of information away for later consideration. He paused for a moment before gently taking Nastasia's hand in his own and pulling her up. She wobbled, but he didn't let her fall. "Forget all that, for just a few moments. This is worth it, I promise."

Nastasia looked at him like he had just turned into a Goomba. He couldn't explain why he wanted to cheer her up, and thought that perhaps it was the Christmas in the air.

"Um…ok…" she agreed. While he could float in the air, Nastasia could do no such thing, so he helped her take the few steps over ground and onto the clear blue ice. Her feet parted, and she would have fallen if she hadn't immediately grabbed onto him. She blushed, and the jester smiled genuinely, gingerly extracting her arms from around himself and taking hold of her hand again.

"Relax," he said. "Listen to your body and let it balance itself. Don't panic, don't flail around. You'll be fine."

He skated slowly beside her for a while before Nastasia asked, "Why are you so cheerful? It's…odd, for you."

He paused to look at her. "…Let's just say this is the first Christmas where I've had people to celebrate with, and we shall leave it at that," he said curtly, not wanting to say anymore about himself.

Nastasia nodded and resumed skating, a little less shakily and with a little more confidence. Dimentio noticed. "See, you're already getting better."

"Nothing to it," she joked with a slight smile. She glanced over to where Mimi, Mr. L, and O'Chunks were starting to get the hang of it as well. Mimi seemed to be doing the best of them, her excitement overtaking any encountered difficulty. She was giggling and taunting the boys, challenging them to races and competitions of fanciness.

They continued skating for a long while. Dimentio taught her some of his easier tricks, kindly applauding even when she messed up. Eventually, the cold had seeped through their warm clothes and into their bones, and then it was time to head home and get some hot cocoa into their systems.

Dimentio guided the both of them over to rejoin the other three. Their eyes bugged out when they saw that the two of them were holding hands, but he didn't let go despite the blush that was creeping up under his mask, thankfully unseen. With a snap of his fingers, he sent everyone back to Castle Bleck before questions could be asked.

* * *

Count Bleck sat abandoned in the living room, watching the fire flicker and dance in the fire place. While everyone was out having fun, he was alone with his thoughts, and, worst of all, his memories. He was holding an open book, but he'd long ago ceased to read after he found himself reading the same paragraph for the fifth time.

It was a fantasy adventure novel. He'd read it before, in what seemed to be a long time ago. The heroes always won in stories like these. Would his story go the same way? The Count felt tears spring to his eyes, and allowed them to trickle down his face to drip quietly on the floor. This would have been a perfect night…

He heard voices coming down the hallway. The others must be back.

"Dimentio, how come you like to skate if you can fly? Isn't flying better?" he could hear Mimi ask. Dimentio had actually expressed a liking for something?

"You see, flight and levitation are effortless endeavors for me. But skating on ice takes much more effort of body and skill of mind. It's more rewarding." Dimentio responded with what was an unusually straight answer.

Count Bleck quietly closed his book and left it on the arm of the plush chair he'd been sitting in. The tears were still flowing, one by one, so he quickly retreated to his room before anyone could see. Once safely sequestered away, he caught a teardrop in his hand and looked at it. He was still mourning her, it seemed. Christmas, a time for being with loved ones, was the worst time for him. Without his other half, what was there to be happy about?

* * *

Nastasia walked down the hallway, sipping at her cocoa. Having made some for the others and seen them all off to bed, tired out by the day of activity, she was headed to bed herself. She paused when she heard a sound, so faint that she might be imagining it. Following some instinct, she walked toward her boss's room, and it became clear to her what it was she was hearing.

Someone was crying. A pang went through her. She'd heard the Count cry before, sometimes in his sleep when they'd been traveling together, but it hadn't been so anguished in a long time. Quietly cracking open his door, she saw him sitting on his bed with his back to her. His shoulders were bowed, and he was looking at a photograph or a painting, though from her position Nastasia couldn't see what was pictured.

Another sob wracked his body, and she left without making a sound. She knew she couldn't comfort him, not when he let himself go like this. Only one person could possibly offer him comfort at this time, and she felt jealously rush through her, quickly followed by guilt. She wanted so desperately to be with him, but what she should really want was just for him to be happy, with her or no.

Reaching her bedroom, she put her mug on her nightstand and settled down on her bed for a good, silent cry, her feelings even more scrambled by today's events.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sure you're all sensing a little DimentioxNastasia here. There's nothing wrong with O'ChunksxNastasia, I just don't like the feel of it. I could see Dimentio having a slight attraction, friendly, if not romantic, and at least a little respect for Nastasia's intelligence. **


	3. Chapter 3

3

The next morning, Count Bleck woke up very late, and didn't bother to shower or otherwise make himself look clean and organized. He simply didn't have the spirit to play that character today. He walked into the living room on his way to the kitchen and was surprised to find more chaos going on than what was usual. O'Chunks was carrying a huge pine tree haphazardly through the living room. Nastasia and Mimi were arguring about just where it should be placed to look good, and poor O'Chunks was swaying back and forth, the tree branches nearly missing those who were standing around watching.

"O'Chunks! barked Count Bleck," the Count said in an effort to get him to stay still. Everyone froze and looked to Count Bleck. "Just put that down in the corner by the fireplace, would you? It doesn't really matter where you put a Christmas tree." O'Chunks complied, waiting until Mr. L had set up the tree stand to drop it in with a thump.

The Count sighed, turning to leave. Mimi ran in front of him and stopped him from going. "You're not gonna help us decorate?" she asked, employing her cuteness.

"No, Count Bleck is not in the mood," he replied.

Mimi gasped, her eyes widening. "Please?"

"No," the Count said sternly.

Mimi wasn't budging. "But you can't spend Christmas alone! Please?"

Count Bleck thought about how many times he'd spent Christmas alone, even with Nastasia by his side. His tired expression lightened and he smiled just the slightest bit. "Alright, just let me eat something first."

Mimi squealed and caught him up in a big hug. "Thank you! This is the best Christmas ever!" She ran to help Dimentio and Nastasia bring in boxes of decorations. The Count shook his head with a sad smile and continued on to the kitchen.

When Count Bleck returned, a good portion of the massive tree had been decorated. He looked up as he approached and saw that the top of it nearly reached the lofty ceiling of the room. All of the garland and colored lights had been thrown on, and his minions were busy hanging ornaments.

Mimi noticed him. "Hiya, Count! You and Dimentio can hang the stuff further up."

Count Bleck nodded and waited for an ornament to be handed to him. Nastasia gave him a glass bulb shaped like a silver bell. He levitated up and hung it on a randomly chosen branch, making sure it wouldn't fall before he came back down. He noticed that Nastasia was wearing a Santa hat and seemed much more cheerful than she was a few days ago. The sight of the cheerfulness and friendship of his minions surprised him by making him feel happy.

After several more trips up and down, all of the ornaments that could fit were hanging, and strands of tinsel were sparkling in the black fire that lit the room. Overall, it was a very colorful, albeit disorganized, Christmas tree. All that was left was the star.

"Count, you should put on the tree topper." Mr. L said, looking pretty happy himself.

"Yeh are teh boss after all," O'Chunks added.

Count Bleck hesitated for a moment before taking the star from Dimentio and lifting himself up to the top of the tree. He carefully fit the star over the top branch of the tree, then plugged it in. It lit up with a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors, and his minions gave a cheer at the completion of the tree. He floated back down and was startled by a surprise group hug from O'Chunks, Mr. L, and Mimi. They held him tightly for a moment before letting go.

"Thank you so much, Count," Mimi said, her eyes watery.

"Looks good, don she?" O'Chunks commented.

"Yup. Now who wants to decorate everything else?" Mr. L asked.

"This is a big castle, Mr. L, Count Bleck interjected," interjected Count Bleck, who had finally allowed himself to be affected by the familial spirit. "We would never be done in time. Perhaps we should focus on this room."

"Sounds great. Now we just gotta do that and get each other presents." Mr. L continued.

"Oh my gosh! I totally forgot about the presents with all the fun!" Mimi exclaimed.

Count Bleck nodded, having been considering gifts in the back of his mind but had forgotten about it for the most part. Without any kind of signal, everyone split up to go to their individual rooms and think about what everyone else might want. Walking down the hallway, the Count mulled over what would delight his minions, but couldn't help but think about what sort of gift she might have wanted…

* * *

Two weeks later…

Count Bleck woke up, groaned, and rolled over. You couldn't tell time in this dimension, but he still thought it was too early. Then again, he was never a morning person anyway. He jumped and blinked groggily when the door to his bedroom burst open and Mimi started jumping up and down giddily by his bedside.

"Wake up! It's Christmas!" she said. When he was too slow to respond, she grabbed his arm and tried to drag him out of bed. "C'mon! Get up! There's presents to open!"

"Mimi, patience please. Let Count Bleck get dressed at least."

"Aww, but hurry up!" Count Bleck gave her a pointed look and she added a "please" before bounding out the door. He suspected that if the rest of the minions weren't awake yet, they would soon be. He chuckled to himself and pulled on his usual clothing.

Entering the living room, he saw that everyone else had already gathered. Most of them were still wearing their pajamas. The tree looked healthy, as Nastasia had been taking impeccable care of it. A pile of presents, small but homely, sat under the lower branches. Nobody had much money saved up, so at most they could get their fellows one gift each. Despite that, they had gone all out, trying to make sure everyone came away happy.

When they saw him, they gathered into a semi-circle around the presents, leaving a space where he sat down momentarily. After a brief discussion on what order they should open presents in, they decided to go around the circle and open them by gift-giver, starting with all of O'Chunks' presents to the others.

At the end of an hour of shredded wrapping paper, bow fights, and appreciation, they all settled down on the couch to watch Christmas specials on TV. They had all received some very good gifts, but of course each had their favorite. O'Chunks had come away with a new set of weights given to him by Mr. L. Mimi had a brand new diary, gifted by Dimentio, who snickered to himself as he already knew how to break into it. Mr. L had a new green scarf and a massive toolbox filled with new wrenches and a multitude of other useful tools. He thanked O'Chunks profusely for that, who said it was no problem at all.

Dimentio had received from Nastasia a set of mystery novels, the first of which he was already reading. In turn, Dimentio had given her a new inkwell and some fancy pens, and she had also gotten some professional-looking notebooks from Mimi.

Nobody was quite sure what Count Bleck liked, since he was so aloof most of the time, so he had mostly gotten all sorts of books. He didn't mind at all, as he loved to read when he managed to find some free time, and truly appreciated the thought.

As they all went to bed that night, they felt better than they had in the previous months of failure after failure. Dimentio felt conflicted by the feelings of friendship and comradeship he'd been shown, and by his own feelings of affection. Count Bleck fell asleep with just a little more hope in his heart.


End file.
